


Arsenic Showcase

by IncurablePeppermint



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: By which I mean poisoning, Canonical Character Death, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, POV Second Person, Retelling, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 13:51:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16285781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncurablePeppermint/pseuds/IncurablePeppermint
Summary: Sazed doesn't want to kill Taako, necessarily, he just wants to make sure Taako remembers that he also contributes to the show.





	Arsenic Showcase

You get to see sides of him that none of his ‘devoted’ fans get to see. This is mostly for the better. They see a beautiful golden mask, a perfect boy. They see tiny wrinkles that prematurely dig into his dark, chubby face but that give an air of dignity, grace, and experience that a baby smooth face just doesn’t have. They see perfect flourishes of his apron and dazzling sparkles shooting from his wand. They see the finished product.

You get to see what they don’t. You get to see him burning chicken as he thinks too long on a new quip. You watch him try to place a garnish he hasn’t used before on top of a pie and accidentally drop the whole bundle instead, leaving a big and messy pile of chiffonade rather than a tasteful sprinkling of shredded leaves. You get to hear him talk about how happy this job makes him in  _ earnest _ instead of him just fawning over each fan as if they’re a long lost child finally welcomed back into the home.

And recently, you’ve been allowed to participate in ways his fans can only dream of. Measuring out his ingredients. Finishing up his lines. Holding up the fork for him to take the first bite, his plump lips getting treacherously close to your thick, green fingers. But then, you also get to see the bad side of Taako that the fans don’t get to see.

You thought, maybe, he wanted to do this show with _you_. You’ve been his bodyguard, his aid, his janitor, his  _ right hand man _ . But that’s not what you want. You want to be... His. And you thought that if you did the show with him, if your name was next to his on the shirts and the signs and the decorative plates that it would be sealing the deal. But no.

It wouldn’t be good for merchandising, he said, like you couldn’t just keep selling the old stuff alongside new things. Like it wouldn’t drive up the price of ‘classic’ Sizzle it Up with Taako merchandise. You don’t even necessarily need your name on anything. You only want to co-host instead of assist. You want to shift the power balance so that you can pursue a relationship without it being weird. Or that's what you _wanted_ , not so much at this moment.

But he hummed and looked away and tapped his foot. He’d love to, but he can’t. Bullshit. After everything you’ve done for him? After you got him his gigs and hand printed merchandise and foraged for rare ingredients in dangerous conditions? After all that you’re just a fucking roadie? Well, he doesn’t get to look down at you. He doesn’t get to take you for granted. You don’t even want to be with him anymore. You just want your dues.

So you poisoned the food and you’re watching backstage as he cooks it. He’s a chef, he’ll smell it. He’ll take the first bite, realize something is wrong, and spit it out. He’ll figure it out. Then, when he realizes he's almost poisoned so many people, when he realizes he's almost poisoned  _ himself _ , he’ll appreciate you. He’ll realize he’s gotten ahead of himself and he needs not an assistant but a _co-host_ to help him, to make sure everything is in order.

But he’s too focused on the garlic cloves, counting them out, to smell the obvious poison. It’s got a distinct smell, like sulfur. Like he’s cooking his chicken on a volcano. But it’s being drowned out by the overwhelming garlic smell. Well, that’s fine. He always eats the first bite himself. Gives an over-excited noise to indicate just how delicious the food is before passing out plates to the waiting crowd. 

Then he doesn’t. You realize that you usually cut the first bite and hold it up to put in his mouth. That without an assistant on stage he sometimes skips this step. He starts plating the chicken and you put a hand to your mouth. Notice the arsenic. Notice the arsenic. Gods, please, notice the  _ arsenic _ .

If you go up now and tell him it smells funny he will dismiss you as too worrisome. If you admit to your crime right away you’ll be in so much trouble. You’ve endangered so many people. You should’ve chosen something that could just make people sick, but arsenic was readily available at the alchemist’s shop. Fuck the trouble, you have to tell him.

You look up and you realize that everyone has their plates, already eating, and Taako is about to dig into his own. 

“Wait, don’t!”

“What is it, my man? There’s enough for you too, don’t sweat it.” He motions to another plate, sitting on the table. He has a suave smile and beautiful eyes and he doesn't know what you've done. You shake your head and run up to him, knocking the plate down before pointing out into the audience where an elderly woman is doubled over, coughing. Then another person becomes sick. He stares out at them with wide-eyes, muttering something under his breath about elderberries. 

“Just... Get everything closed up, I’m going to ready the wagon.”

“Sazed, they’re...”

“I know! And you’re going to end up in the gallows if you don’t hurry the _ hell _ up.”

He puts a hand to his neck and rubs it for a moment, then nods. In a daze, he begins to close up shop, leaving behind all sorts of merchandise and boxed ingredients he deems unimportant. They are unimportant. You’ve ruined _everything_. You shake your head and hurry along to ready the horses, then climb up to drive the wagon away.

You’ll come back. You’ll tell them it’s your fault. He won’t be hunted down because you made this mistake. But for now, you don’t want to be here for what’s happening. There’s nothing you can do. He shouldn’t have to see this. It’s  _ your _ fault.


End file.
